diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 3398d7f4fe..b32b2986c9 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ def read_version():
     "protobuf3-to-dict>=0.1.5",
     "requests>=2.20.0, <3",
     "smdebug-rulesconfig==0.1.2",
+    "importlib-metadata>=1.4.0",
+    "packaging>=20.0",
 ]
 
 # Specific use case dependencies
diff --git a/src/sagemaker/__init__.py b/src/sagemaker/__init__.py
index 0f8bf15a27..6b35f5abb9 100644
--- a/src/sagemaker/__init__.py
+++ b/src/sagemaker/__init__.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 """Placeholder docstring"""
 from __future__ import absolute_import
 
-import pkg_resources
+import importlib_metadata
 
 from sagemaker import estimator, parameter, tuner  # noqa: F401
 from sagemaker.amazon.kmeans import KMeans, KMeansModel, KMeansPredictor  # noqa: F401
@@ -60,4 +60,4 @@
 from sagemaker.automl.automl import AutoML, AutoMLJob, AutoMLInput  # noqa: F401
 from sagemaker.automl.candidate_estimator import CandidateEstimator, CandidateStep  # noqa: F401
 
-__version__ = pkg_resources.require("sagemaker")[0].version
+__version__ = importlib_metadata.version("sagemaker")
diff --git a/src/sagemaker/mxnet/model.py b/src/sagemaker/mxnet/model.py
index 019d54d76f..19ac45203b 100644
--- a/src/sagemaker/mxnet/model.py
+++ b/src/sagemaker/mxnet/model.py
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@
 
 import logging
 
-from pkg_resources import parse_version
+import packaging.version
+
 from sagemaker import fw_utils
 
 import sagemaker
@@ -142,9 +143,9 @@ def prepare_container_def(self, instance_type, accelerator_type=None):
             dict[str, str]: A container definition object usable with the
             CreateModel API.
         """
-        is_mms_version = parse_version(self.framework_version) >= parse_version(
-            self._LOWEST_MMS_VERSION
-        )
+        is_mms_version = packaging.version.Version(
+            self.framework_version
+        ) >= packaging.version.Version(self._LOWEST_MMS_VERSION)
 
         deploy_image = self.image
         if not deploy_image:
diff --git a/src/sagemaker/pytorch/model.py b/src/sagemaker/pytorch/model.py
index 407d06b8be..38c369c921 100644
--- a/src/sagemaker/pytorch/model.py
+++ b/src/sagemaker/pytorch/model.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 from __future__ import absolute_import
 
 import logging
-import pkg_resources
+import packaging.version
 from sagemaker import fw_utils
 
 import sagemaker
@@ -143,8 +143,8 @@ def prepare_container_def(self, instance_type, accelerator_type=None):
             dict[str, str]: A container definition object usable with the
             CreateModel API.
         """
-        lowest_mms_version = pkg_resources.parse_version(self._LOWEST_MMS_VERSION)
-        framework_version = pkg_resources.parse_version(self.framework_version)
+        lowest_mms_version = packaging.version.Version(self._LOWEST_MMS_VERSION)
+        framework_version = packaging.version.Version(self.framework_version)
         is_mms_version = framework_version >= lowest_mms_version
 
         deploy_image = self.image
diff --git a/src/sagemaker/user_agent.py b/src/sagemaker/user_agent.py
index f7fa29e5a7..a121183489 100644
--- a/src/sagemaker/user_agent.py
+++ b/src/sagemaker/user_agent.py
@@ -15,12 +15,12 @@
 
 import platform
 import sys
-import pkg_resources
 
 import boto3
 import botocore
+import importlib_metadata
 
-SDK_VERSION = pkg_resources.require("sagemaker")[0].version
+SDK_VERSION = importlib_metadata.version("sagemaker")
 OS_NAME = platform.system() or "UnresolvedOS"
 OS_VERSION = platform.release() or "UnresolvedOSVersion"
 PYTHON_VERSION = "{}.{}.{}".format(